Salvation
by cascade-of-black-ink
Summary: In the aftermath of CLU's and Flynn's death, The Grid has overcome the initial chaos to achieve an uneasy peace where lawlessness was the only way to stay free. Amidst this is a routing program called Tova, and a security program called Tron. Post-Legacy.
1. Ambush

Note: This chapter has been edited.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related to the Tron universe, tee hee! Wish I did, though.

**Chapter 1: Ambush**

The program stood on the top of the plateau, its feet a few inches away from the edge of a canyon that split the plateau in half. It observed the horizon, where the plateau ended abruptly and the last of the flat lands stretched on for miles. Beyond that were the Outlands, a maze of mountains and caves and rough craggy terrain where no light cycle could traverse. A program could get lost in there and never return.

But in this day and datacycle, a program would do anything to survive.

Including robbing.

The program smiled as a speck of green appeared on the horizon. Time for action.

It dimmed its white circuitry and crouched, baton at the ready. At the far side of the plateau, the side that faced Tron City, two programs took note and brandished their own batons before leaping off the edge.

The program watched as the green speck drew nearer and entered the dark canyon, the fierce green light of the rider and its lightcycle bouncing off the walls and the path ahead. That path used to be lit in a more prosperous time, but this was a hard and difficult datacycle. Any road outside the city could no longer afford to be lit.

Once the lightcycle rushed past, the white program leapt down the crevice of the canyon and activated its baton. A lightcycle materialised and a helmet enveloped the program's head just as both wheels landed on the ground and accelerated, flooding the canyon with white light.

The revs of the white lightcycle were not lost on the green rider. He glanced behind at the fast approaching lightcycle and gulped. This was exactly as he had feared; vagrant programs trying to steal from him, but his employer had refused to provide him an escort. The only thing left to do was try to survive and transport his cargo to the city in one piece, at all costs.

The green program removed his identity disc, activated it and threw it with all his might towards the white program pursuing him, but this proved to be a fatal mistake. The disc whizzed through the air, but the white program simply lowered its head to avoid decapitation. The disc flew past and made a round turn back to its owner, bumping against the harsh canyon walls and thus losing speed. The white program sensed the disc returning as its approaching light reflected off its helmet. With its fast reflexes it caught the disc.

The green program wondered why his disc had not returned to him. He turned around and saw it in the hands of his pursuer. His heart plummeted just as he jaw dropped. How did he do that? But he had no time to think.

The next thing he knew, his lightcycle had crashed into a white light ribbon that he had not noticed earlier. His lightcycle disintegrated, the momentum sending its rider and a matte black metal box, flying through the air and landing unceremoniously on his butt. Two more blue programs emerged and circled around the beaten program, trapping it in a blue circular light wall.

The program that had given chase brought its lightcycle to a halt and descended from it. Its lightcycle dematerialised and it caught the baton neatly in its hand. The other two white programs, its accomplices, halted as well, but kept their lightcycles running.

The green program scrambled for the box, clutched it to his chest and got to his feet. His helmet unfolded back just as the white program walked towards him. He reached for his identity disc and his throat turned dry.

"Looking for this?" said the white program as it held up the green disc.

The green program's breath and voice shook. "P-p-p-please... I was only doing my j-j-job..."

The white program nudged its head towards the box. "Give me that and I'll give you this."

The green program's circuitry went two shades dimmer. "I – I can't."

"You can't?" The white program sighed and its helmet folded back, revealing a female program with her sleek black hair tied in a neat ponytail. The other two programs darted surprised looks at each other.

The green program's eyes widened. "Tova?"

"Yes, it's me, Cadmus," she said with a smile.

"But – but why? I know you, Tova. You're a good program." He glanced at the other two programs, who remain masked but who were looking at Tova's direction as well. "You – you wouldn't do something like this."

"Like you, I had no choice," she replied simply and shrugged. Cadmus, the green program, could not believe the situation he was in. Her words and tone were serious, but her expression was almost... cheerful. It was unlike the Tova he had known many datacyles ago, before Clu, their ruler, was destroyed along with his user.

"Please let me go," he said even though he knew that whatever he said would be in vain, "please! Or I'll be – "

"Derezzed?" finished Tova. She broke into a sudden, hearty laugh. "Oh, Cadmus," she said softly. "I was really afraid that some day something like this would happen. That on one of our runs we'd get stuck between a rock and a hard place." She glanced back at the plateau behind them. "Seems about right, doesn't it?"

"Tova," said one of the white Programs darkly, shifting in its seat. "Get it over and done with."

Tova fixed her eyes on the green program, who gulped. Those brilliant blue eyes, which had once had been always kept downcast and which looked up only to afford her friends a polite or shy smile. This couldn't be the same Tova.

"Were you reprogrammed?" he asked her.

"Me?" she seemed taken aback. "Well no, I haven't. Have you?"

"No."

"Why do you ask?"

"You've changed," answered Cadmus.

"I had to, Cadmus. I didn't think you would become a dispatch rider for an energy supplier."

"At least I'm on the right side of the law, Tova."

"What law? As far as I'm concerned there are only two possibilities: either we're in the Game Grid, or we aren't." She activated his identity disk. The energy blade whirred ominously. "And I'll do anything I can to stay outside."

Cadmus steeled himself for the worst.

"Well, it was nice meeting you again, Cadmus," she said with a smile. She raised the disc.

"Do you believe in the Users?" he said suddenly.

She stopped. He thought he saw a flicker in her blue pupils. "I do," she replied.

"So do I."

Her expression clouded over. For a moment, Cadmus thought he would be spared. His employer would be pleased to with his return, he would be kept out of the Game Grid for another day, he may even be able to afford a better unit –

"End of line," she said coldly and threw the disc in his direction. Cadmus didn't even have time to blink.

The black box dropped onto the ground amidst a shower of green pixels.

* * *

In the far reaches of the Outlands, where the Sea of Simulation lapped hungrily at the craggy, rocky shores of the Grid, a program laid still and unconscious on the dirty sand. He had been in the water for more datacycles than he had cared to remember. The only thing he knew was that the moment he had come into being he had been plunged into an immense body of free data so random and muddled that he couldn't make sense of where he was and in which direction he was being mercilessly tossed and whipped.

The program awoke.

Somewhat disoriented, he pushed himself slowly onto his feet. His circuitry glowed gradually brighter with the colour yellow. When he had regained much of his consciousness, he was suddenly struck with the overwhelming feeling of helplessness. Where was he? What was the name of this system? All this was alien to him.

He only knew two things: his name was Janus, and that he had one objective: to learn whatever he could of the name 'Flynn' and take that information back to his User.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for any discrepancies, inaccuracies, etc. I haven't watched the first TRON (yes yes, so sue me :P). This chapter was partly inspired by the VFX Concept Test and I decided to give it a whirl. I also apologize if I have offended anyone throughout the course of the chapter. If it's good and worth continuing, well, let me know, won't you?**

**Thanks!**


	2. Magnetic

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the TRON universe, tqvm. :)

**Chapter 2: Magnetic**

No conversation was initiated between Tova and her companions as they rode their lightcycles back to the city. She could sense that they were a little more than annoyed at her little exchange with Cadmus... poor program. She winced with guilt. She had known him many datacycles ago when they were both obedient, insignificant programs who tended to the maintenance routines of Tron City on a daily basis. Though sometimes you couldn't trust Cadmus to stick to his word, you would never doubt that his disc was in the right place.

The same, though, couldn't be said of her.

The weight of Cadmus's disc bore down on her conscience as it nestled in the casing on her back together with her own identity disc. Normally she would break the discs of the programs that she had derezzed, to spare her the guilt of their memories, and her companions would do the same, but she had _known_ him. Spoken to him and had ridden the same solar sailer together to work. Vanquishing Cadmus's memories didn't seem like the right thing to do.

She laughed at herself. _Look at you, Tova, thinking of doing right to a program you'd just robbed AND derezzed,_ she thought to herself bitterly. _Well done_.

The freeways of Tron City were empty, just like it had always been since the collapse of C.L.U.'s reign. Occasionally a group of two or three helmeted programs could be seen making their way warily from point A to point B. Tova remembered a time when Tron City was absolutely bustling with life: programs going about their daily business, stopping around the corner for a quick chat or data exchange, talking about going to see the games; now the city was a mere shadow of what it had been.

The upper levels of Tron City, though somewhat vacant, were still as brightly lit as before, but its underbelly, which once was also bright and vibrant, now existed in a state of perpetual dimness, lit only by the light given off by the circuitry of the programs who had been driven underground and the occasional surviving circuitry of a building or two. It was at this place of darkness and despair that Tova and her companions eventually arrived. They deactivated their lightcycles and discreetly entered Tova's housing unit with their precious cargo.

Her unit was pitch black when she unlocked the door. With the help of their circuitry, Tova managed to locate the vial of energy liquid that powered her unit and flipped it upside down. Once the lights were on, she placed the black metal box on the only furniture available in her unit: a plain grey slab of plastic with a thin black futon on it; otherwise known as her bed, and deactivated her helmet, followed suit by the other two programs.

One of them, Vido, stepped forward and opened the black metal box. The other program, his twin, Drom, stood beside him and smiled. There, in the box, were three rows of eight vials of pure, liquid energy each.

Vido took one vial out carefully and opened the lid with his thumb. He took a whiff, paused, then let out a long and contented sigh. "Refined liquid energy," he said happily, passing the vial to Drom. "Just a sniff and you feel recharged instantly. Who doesn't love them?"

Drom sniffed at the vial as well and smiled even wider. "I'm sure it'll be all right if we drink some now," he said, glancing at Vido, who grinned and nodded encouragingly at him. "We'll share," he told Vido, his excitement growing by the minute. "You wouldn't mind, would you, To – "

"Wait," she said abruptly, but her voice sounded distant. They turned to look at her. She sat on the bed, her eyes fixed into a blank stare, and they noticed that her blue disc was on the futon beside her, the green disc of the program she had derezzed earlier was fixed onto her back.

"Tova, don't you think it's dangerous for you to read that program's disc?" asked Vido uneasily; even Drom lowered the vial with apprehension. "What if it was being tracked?"

She didn't reply for awhile. The twin programs glanced at each other, then back at the vial. The azure blue of the liquid called out invitingly to them...

"It is," Tova said suddenly. They jumped and looked back at her. She got to her feet and replaced her own blue disc onto her back.

"What is?" asked Vido, not sure if he wanted to know.

"The disc. Cadmus was being tracked by his employer," she replied, suddenly feeling angry at herself. She had let sentiment get the better of her. This wasn't typical of a program. Emotions should not compute. She broke Cadmus's disc into half, their past half-friendship be damned, causing its circuitry to fade out at once, and stuffed it under her futon.

"Let's go. He'll find us here any minute now," she said bitterly as she snatched the vial out of Drom's hand, shut it back into the box and tucked the box under her arm.

The twins gave each other panicked looks. "He? Who?"

"Struthers was his employer," she said, turning the vial of liquid energy on the wall of her unit back onto its upright side and removing it from its holder on their way out of the now dark unit.

Vido paled. "But if he finds us – "

"I am NOT going to let myself be thrown into the games," she interjected, her eyes wild now with fear. "And neither will you two, compute?"

"Too late," whispered Drom.

* * *

Janus had been walking for a long time. Like his time in the Sea of Simulation, he couldn't remember how he had computed his path and arrived at that fateful shore. But as he marched on, he could clearly define it: he was being pulled in the direction he was now heading in. The further he walked, the stronger the pull he felt. Though there was nothing but stone and sand and dangerous cliffs and mountains as far as his eye could see, he knew that he was drawing near.

He entered a dark tunnel that was carved into the side of a particularly forbidding-looking mountain with a jagged, double-headed peak, his yellow circuitry lighting the way ahead of him. Without much fuss and trouble he had come to a small pool of pale blue liquid. Recognising this as energy and that he wouldn't last long if he did not consume some, he knelt by the pool and drank from it. Feeling more energized than he did before, he resumed his journey to his destination.

Towards 'Flynn'.

* * *

**A/N: Terribly sorry for the inconvenience, but it is thoroughly possible for me to end up adding more to this chapter as I felt it was pretty short, hehe. So don't be surprised if you come back to find the content changed. XP**


	3. Collision

Disclaimer: I do not own anything TRON-related. ;)

**Chapter 3: Collision**

Fast approaching behind them were the sound of lightcycle revs and the splash of green light thrown against the walls they sped by. Tova grabbed Vido and Drom's hands, who were both rooted the ground with fear. "Don't just stand there! Run!" she commanded, giving them a vicious pull in the opposite direction.

"Maybe they're not – "

"Just RUN!"

The twins finally came to their senses and started running. "Where do we go?" shouted Drom.

"Anywhere!" Tova broke into a running leap, activated her lightcycle and sped down the dark, narrow road ahead.

If any one of them had had any doubts as to whether the six green lightcycles were actually looking for them, it was banished, for the moment the three white programs had activated their lightcycles, the six green programs accelerated in their direction.

The roads of this underbelly of Tron City were not only dimly lit but narrow, unlike the wide open freeways above. Only two lightcycles could move comfortably on the road at one time. They had to try and lose them above, and if necessary, all the way to the Outlands.

"Let's split up," Tova said to the other two programs and pointed upwards. "Above! You guys are search programs – locate me when it's safe!" They nodded in acquiescence. An intersection came up ahead and each program took one route: Vido to the left, Drom to the right, and Tova straight ahead.

Tova recalculated the quickest way above from her memory of Tron City's roadways, her blue pupils flickering erratically as she quickly processed a jumble of routes and figures; data that she had encountered ever since her creation. She had settled on one. "Got it," she muttered to herself. Just then, she heard engine revs behind her. Turning around, she saw two green lightcycles, both hot on her trail.

"Catch me if you can," she whispered. With a grin, she activated her helmet and gunned the throttle.

She doubted that the green programs chasing her would know how to manouevre the roads of the underbelly well. As far as she knew green programs were mostly confined to the Game Grid, where they worked as security or dispatch or whatever they could in exchange for pittance energy. Tova led her three pursuers deeper into the heart of the underbelly, speeding past unit buildings that became more and more sparsely populated, till eventually she reached a part of Tron City that was completely dark, save for the programs' circuitry. She sped on until she reached a long road that ended with a dead end: a wall of solid black concrete. She accelerated ahead to deceive them, then within seconds of hitting the wall, she jerked hard to the right and deactivated her lightcycle baton.

Her lightcycle dematerialised at once, but the rear wheel didn't make it in time and crashed against the wall, sparking off blue pixels. The impact and inertia sent her and the black metal box tumbling onto the ground in pain and knocked her out of her breath, but the two green programs weren't so lucky. They rammed right into the wall and burst into a million little green pixels, their surprised screams brutally silenced.

The pixels rained down all around her as she tried to push herself gingerly off the ground. Her whole body ached, but at least no part of her was damaged. The same though could not be said of her lightcycle baton, which she found amidst the layer of green pixels that covered the ground, snapped into half.

Her heart sank. Now how would she ever be able to get around? A lightcycle baton wasn't cheap. Hers had come to her in Tron City's more prosperous days, when energy was still plenty and she had a legal job. Nowadays one would have to save up a load of refined energy to trade in for one, which was not easy when a program was not an energy supplier. She had no time to mourn over it, however. She got up, ignoring the immense pain that seared throughout her body, and ran towards the black box that lay on the floor several yards away. Suddenly she heard a noise: ominous whirring and whining machinery. And it was heading in her direction.

Tova quickly snatched up the black box, and in the process of doing so, liquid energy trickled out from under the lid. She had no time to check or be disappointed or angry with herself. She turned around and started to run back up the long dark road, but she was too late.

A swath of green light illuminated the entire area, revealing the entire layout for everyone to see and took away whatever element of surprise Tova could have used to escape. Soon enough, four green lightcycles appeared on the horizon. Tova dimmed her circuitry and launched to her left, trying her best to stay in the dark as she ran for the junction at the top of the road. She took a hard left at the corner. She knew it was hopeless to run; but she couldn't just stand there and let them take her.

But there was no use anyway.

Soon enough the lightcycles caught up with her. In one lightning fast motion, one green rider activated his lightwall, sped past her and turned sharply around, blocking her route. Tova collided with the lightwall and fell on her bottom.

It was over.

The green rider deactivated its lightcycle and helmet and walked towards her. The other three green programs halted behind her. Right before her, the green program looked down with a wistful smile. His face was pale, his head completely smooth and bald, and his eyes were a bottomless black. "Program," he said in a deep, gravelly voice. "Do you know who I am?"

Tova got to her feet slowly. His eyes followed her every move. "Well?" he asked again.

"No, I don't know who you are," she answered coldly, even though inside she had a sinking feeling that she knew.

"Oh I'm sure you do. You wouldn't have run from me otherwise."

She didn't reply, but merely glared at him.

"How dare you steal from me," he said simply.

She snorted. "I don't have any qualms about stealing from a tyrant, especially one named Struthers." She brandished her disc and immediately the other three green programs brandished theirs at her. Tova eyed them and deliberated whether she should just risk deresolution and aim her disc at him when he laughed abruptly.

"Vagrant programs certainly are a feisty bunch, aren't they? Too bad the same can't be said of your friends."

Tova's heart went cold. "What – what did you do to them?"

"Nothing," he replied, shrugging. "My riders simply got the better of them. Let's put it this way: they led themselves to their own deresolution. Did they not?" he looked in the direction of his riders, who nodded and murmured vaguely in acquiescence.

Tova drew her deep breath and readjusted her grip on her disc. "Then I don't have any other reason to live then, do I?"

Struthers's expression became deathly serious at once. "You'll never be able to touch me. My riders will derezz you before you can even throw your disc."

"At least I'll die a free program!" She let her disc fly. Struthers immediately grabbed his disc and deflected hers while two of his green riders forced her to her knees by kicking her hard in her stomach. With a cry of pain she sank to the ground, then abruptly the two programs held her arms and forced her to kneel upright and one put his green disc to her throat. Her blue disc dropped helplessly onto the ground.

Struthers replaced his disc on his back. "No, program, it would be a shame to derezz you. You'd make for very fine entertainment for my colleagues." He squatted so that his face was close to hers. She glared at him, tears prickling at the corner of her eyes, knowing that the cruellest of fates would soon befall her.

"Such beautiful eyes," he murmured. "So rare for a program."

The wind above them vibrated and trembled, then swirled and whined, whipping their hairs to their faces. Tova looked up. A Recognizer approached.

"Yes, program, you will make a fine gladiator." He nudged his chin at the other three green programs. "Make sure she makes it to the Game Grid in one piece." Then he knelt and picked her blue disc up. She cast a fearful look at Struthers, who smiled haughtily back. "Meanwhile, let me just hold on to this."

Tova closed her eyes and lowered her head as she was forced up onto her feet, her throat heavy with sorrow and despair. She was no longer a free program.

* * *

Janus paused in his steps and looked at the dark clouds above him. The closer he got towards his end destination, his intended directory, the more restless he felt, as if he was walking into a trap. Or, he reasoned, it could be a feeling that came with knowing that he was on the cusp of a major revelation.

He shrugged and continued on his path.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for the review for the last chapter! :D Made my day. Do leave me a review, won't you? I need to know what I'm getting right and what I'm not... thanks a bunch! :)**


	4. Duel

Disclaimer: I own no part of the TRON franchise... u_u

**Chapter 4: Duel**

Tova had lost count of the hours she had spent in her cell, a small four-walled room with only a single metal plank attached to the wall for her to sit and sleep on. Blue circuitry lining the floor and the ceiling bathed her cell in an eerie pale cerulean glow. Once in awhile a small slit in the door of her cell would slide open and a vial of liquid energy would roll in.

It was for this regular supply of energy that sometimes desperate programs would willingly surrender themselves to the games, for though it meant stripping themselves of whatever dignity and freedom they had left, at least they could rely on being kept alive.

Until their eventual deresolution by a more skilled opponent.

Tova's hand moved towards her back, reaching for something that was not there: her identity disc. Her hand fell limply down back to her side. She felt naked without it, hopeless and defenceless, for what was a program without its identity disc but an empty shell? Tova had seriously considered demanding to be submitted to the Arena several times. She didn't think she could stand this torturous wait any longer. Oh, to feel the wind whip by her face astride a lightcycle again...

A loud metallic thud jolted Tova out of her reverie. The door to her cell slid upwards. Two helmeted green programs stepped into the cell. She glared at them questioningly.

"Program," one of the programs addressed her. "On your feet. You are to come with us."

"To where?" she asked stonily.

"To the Armoury. Today, you will fight."

Tova snorted. "I thought you'd never ask."

"If you try anything funny, program," said the other green program sternly, "you will be subject to – "

"Yes, yes, immediate deresolution, I know," she replied, her voice laced with sarcasm. "Don't worry, I'm not as stupid as I look."

The two green programs glanced briefly at one another, then each grabbed one of her arm. She tried to break away but their grips were deathly strong. One of the green programs turned his black gaze on her. She couldn't see through his helmet, but he knew his expression must have been deadly serious. "Just in case," he said tartly.

Tova let herself be led out of her cell, down the long and silent hallway lined by the cells of other imprisoned programs who were destined to deresolution in the Arena. They took an elevator to a higher floor, then walked down another long and silent hallway that was brightly lit by white circuitry. At the end of the hallway was a pair of metallic grey doors. They slid open. Beyond the doors was a large hexagonal chamber lined with grey metal plates. A black platform with a blue circle stood in the middle. The two programs marched Tova onto the black platform. Her feet were locked immediately onto the platform by a pair of clasps lit by white circuitry. One of the green programs turned around to leave, another stood beside her and looked at her. Tova returned his stare. She meant it to be angry, but from the way her heart clenched with dread, she knew that it must have turned out otherwise. She didn't want to look sad or pleading, so she drew a deep, shaky breath and looked straight ahead, away from the green program.

"Good luck," said the green program finally and exited the chamber, leaving her alone.

She didn't reply.

From behind the metallic plates in the wall, four female programs with white suits and circuitry suddenly emerged from four different corners. Tova stared at them as if entranced, such was the beauty of the Sirens. The head Siren, a female program with hair as black as Tova's but cut in a masculine manner, stepped directly in front of her and scanned her from head to toe. Then she nodded her head at two other Sirens.

Tova's disc casing was removed and replaced with a casing made of more rigid material and which fit to the shape of the back of her neck and conformed down her spine. New black armour, sleeker and more flexible, enveloped her body from the feet up. This was more comfortable than her old one, and, despite her hatred for everything the Game Grid stood for, Tova found herself liking her new armour.

A white podium rose out of the floor. Within it was encased an identity disc. One of the Sirens turned on her heel, strode mechanically towards it and brought the disc back. The head Siren nodded at her and the disc was fixed on Tova's back. Tova's breath caught slightly in her throat as her system immediately began downloading information from the disc – foreign information.

"This is not my disc," she said, feeling a little panicked, to the head Siren, who turned her pale grey eyes on her.

"It will be sufficient," replied the Siren.

The disc finished installing.

"Upgrading complete. Disc activated and synchronized. Proceed to games," said the Siren again. Tova inhaled deeply, steeling her nerves as the Sirens proceeded to march backwards and her platform lift upwards. A black metal plate in the ceiling opened.

Soon enough, Tova found herself in a wide rectangular chamber lined with gridlines lit with blue circuitry. The walls and floor were translucent; looking down, she could see the shape of the building that made up the base of the Arena, and opposite her, the dancing lights of Tron City. In the upper reaches of the chamber several green and, mostly, red programs sat and peered down at her. She felt her face burning up as she glared back up at them, hatred and anger stewing within her system.

The glass wall opposite her lowered until it completely merged with the floor as a similarly-shaped chamber rotated from another location and merged with her chamber. Within it stood another program, white-circuited like her. The male program looked determined. The moment their chambers locked into place, he removed his disc from his back and had activated it. Tova followed suit, eyeing him intently. His expression was determined, but from the way he held his disc: unsure. Their helmets unfolded themselves from their casing and covered their heads save for a glass panel at the front for better visibility.

In a glass chamber opposite the audience, a red program spoke into a voice amplifier: "One-on-one disc war. Begin."

The white program let out a battle cry and flung his disc at Tova. She leapt out of the way, landed back on her two feet, and threw her disc at him with all her might. But his disc had returned quickly to him and, using it, he deflected her disc. She caught hers back just in time as he charged towards her, disc raised in his right hand. With an undignified yelp, Tova got out of the way just in time, turned around and parried the vicious plummeting of his disc upon her head with such abruptness and force that his disc flew out of his hands and was sent clattering onto the floor. Both programs looked at where the disc fell. He ran for it and Tova knew that she had to get to him before he got back to his disc. She let fly her disc at him in a vague trajectory in his direction.

The disc hit him squarely on his back, derezzing him in an instant.

Tova realised she had been panting heavily and tried to control her breathing. _That was luck, sheer dumb luck_, she thought incredulously, staring at the white pixels scattered across the floor. The disc of her opponent lay amidst the pixels, and it just occurred to her that she had won her first disc war. She looked up at the programs watching them. She could see a few green programs nodding thoughtfully and the red programs merely sneering. Suddenly inspired, she held her disc up with both hands as a sign of victory.

As a sign of her support for the Users.

Some of the red programs got to their feet and began pointing and shouting in her direction angrily. The green programs (one of them being Struthers), tried to calm them down, but with frightened looks, as if they were afraid of their wrath. Tova frowned. Something was amiss with the system. All this while she had believed that they were all energy tycoons, hoarding energy to themselves and jealously guarding their energy pools so as to avoid losing importance and power. Was there some sort of hierarchy that she knew nothing about? Was a power, an authority, coming into being?

Whichever way it was, she was sure that it couldn't be a good thing.

The glass barrier rose. Her chamber moved suddenly and Tova almost lost her balance. Her disc still in her hands, she waited with bated breath for her next opponent to appear, but the moment her chamber locked with another chamber and the glass barrier lowered, there was no one in the opposing court. She scanned the entire chamber. None.

Just then she heard three other chambers locking into hers and the glass walls lowered. Three programs, two white and one green, were within each chamber. In the previously vacant chamber, another green program emerged from below. Tova activated her disc and held it in front of her as she took stock of all four programs. Her heart beat wildly with terror as they all activated their discs as well.

The red program spoke into the volume amplifier: "Four-on-one disc war. Begin."

* * *

Janus was running out of energy. His yellow circuitry was pale and glowed erratically. It had been several days since his last intake of energy, and he had not seen a single pool of energy since then. He had passed through countless caves and tunnels till they all seemed the same to him. In fact, he didn't think he would have known it if he had walked in circles.

Rough terrain was all his boots had known. He wanted to desperately to rest. But the pull was getting stronger. He couldn't stop. Not just yet. He couldn't stop until his mission was completed.

But the faintness was too much. Janus climbed gingerly down a steep rocky slope. His eyesight suddenly flashed and blurred and he missed his footing, which sent him tumbling down the side of the foot of the mountain he was trying to go around. He landed on the ground with a loud thud, his left cheek hitting the smooth floor squarely.

Wait – smooth floor?

His cheek was indeed pressing against a smooth and cool surface. His fingertips told him it was made of stone. Where –

He passed out.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for the lovely reviews! They've certainly motivated me to continue despite being loaded with assignments and lectures. :P I apologise beforehand if there are any discrepancies with what is seen in the movie. Perhaps I should explain that in my story, the Tron system has become a place of oppression, a little bit of a police state, and there's constant power struggle between whoever has access to energy supply... yeah lame-sounding, I know, but I wanted to try that concept out.**

**Andddd... Tron will probably make his appearance in the next chapter! *hint hint* XP**

**Do review, they really really brighten up my day! :D**


	5. Discoveries

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of TRON.

**Chapter 5: Discoveries**

One of the green programs wasted no time hurling his disc at Tova, who turned her head around just in time to react by deflecting the throw with her disc. A split second later her ears picked up a rapid whirring heading her way and, estimating the position of the disc, whirled around and savagely knocked the disc out of its trajectory with her own disc. Before she could catch her breath two more discs came flying her way and she ducked, narrowly missing both. Another disc spun right at her face and she rolled out of its way and got up just in time to deflect another disc. It was madness. If she continued this way she would never be able to survive the round.

Gathering all her wits and strength about her, she seized the chance to hurl her disc at one of the white programs the second he flung his in her direction. With her naturally fast reflexes she caught her opponent's disc, grimacing as the light blades ground into her palm, threw the disc at the opponent behind her and leapt out of the way of an incoming disc. A surprised cry and the sound of pixels shattering confirmed the defeat of the first program and she held her hand out to catch her own disc as it returned to her.

One down, three more to go.

Two discs whirred simultaneously at her. She dodged one, deflected the other, and hurled her disc with all her might at the remaining green program. Having no time to avoid, her disc hit his disc squarely in the middle, knocking him off his feet. Suddenly Tova seemed to have found a strength that she never knew she had. She caught the disc of one of her opponents as it was making a round-turn back to its owner and, ignoring the defiant "Hey!" of its owner, threw it at him.

The sound of a program derezzing never felt so satisfying.

Meanwhile her own disc had come back to her and she plucked it out of the air neatly, breathing heavily as she squared off against the remaining two programs, who now looked somewhat terrified and reluctant. Their emotions no longer registered for Tova. All she cared about was to end this.

One of the programs, a green one, flung his disc at her, followed a split second later by the other white program. Tova managed to parry one but the other disc cut her left cheek, leaving a trail of white pixels in its wake. Tova cried out in pain and put a hand to the wound. White pixels stained her black gloves.

But there was no time even to feel faint. She looked up just in time to see a disc slicing through the air at her and, trying her best to ignore her pain, she thrust her disc into the air and deflected it. Tova cast her disc at the program, who in the confusion of both his and Tova's disc flying at him, held his hand out to catch one of them, but before he could do so her disc cut right through him, instantly derezzing him.

She turned around and faced the remaining green program, holding her hand up and catching her disc intuitively. The green program took a few steps back. It held up its own disc warily. It would be a test of speed between the two programs. Tova hurled her disc at him. At the same time, the other program threw his as well. Both discs bounced off each other in mid air and whizzed right back to their owners who caught them back neatly.

"Let's get this over with," she said through gritted teeth. She drew a deep breath and charged at him with a passionate yell. She didn't care if she ended up being derezzed. She just wanted the fight to be over, for her sanity's sake.

Running at him was a move that neither program had expected. It even drew raised eyebrows and gasps from the observing programs. With a furious yell she raised her disc and rained blow upon blow on him. The program performed well, meeting each of her hits with parrys and deflections of his own, but Tova's sheer resolute will broke through his insecure defensive moves. With a final burst of strength, Tova practically shoved his disc out of the way and, as he stumbled back, she slashed at his neck with her disc with a brutality that frightened even her. His head, shocked expression and all, rolled momentarily off his severed neck before both parts burst into a shower of pixels.

The entire chamber was silent, as if each program was reeling from the shock of what they had just witnessed. Derezzing was nothing new to them, but to see a program be derezzed so brutally...

Tova looked up at the red announcer. He was listening intently as Struthers spoke into his ear, accompanied with hand gestures whose meaning she could not fathom. She seethed in anger and longed to strike out at him with not only her disc but her bare hands till all his pixels had been ground to dust. Realising that violent behaviour against her captors would not help her situation, she tried to calm herself down. Her mind wandered to the battle she had fought. Oddly, she could not recall precisely how the battle had played out. She could only remember the final moment, when she had derezzed the final program. There had been no hesitation. It almost seemed like the natural thing to do, even.

What had she become?

The old Tova would never have had the heart to fight, let alone derezz another program. But then again, the old Tova would have perished a long time ago. Circumstances had changed; so must a program, even if it meant doing something that was not provided for by its coding.

The red program finally turned to the voice amplifier and cleared his throat. "That will be all, gladiator." Surprised, Tova looked up just in time to see Struthers looking at her in a most intense and peculiar way before turning around and leaving the announcer. Two green programs came out of nowhere and forced her to stand on the black platform upon which she had ascended before the battle. As Tova was whisked down and away from the Arena, she could tell that she was being rested because of Struthers's influence, and though somewhat relieved, she couldn't shake off a nagging feeling that Struthers was harbouring an ulterior motive.

* * *

Janus could hear their voices all the time, but he could not hear exactly what was being said. Neither did he want to. Through it all his head swam in a thick, throbbing pool of blissful ignorance of the world. He and his system, his data, were all enveloped in a cocoon of nothingness. But gradually, the cocoon vanished and Janus could feel life returning to his cognitive processes and his limbs.

"He's waking up. Get Ajax," said a cool female voice, the very first one to be heard and interpreted with perfect clarity by Janus as his systems rebooted and his drive whirred silently. Boots clicked rapidly on the stone floor, each step getting more distant. Janus slowly opened his eyes, his pupils constricting as more light hit his retina. The first thing that came into view was a helmeted figure with blue circuitry. It must be the source of the female voice that had spoken earlier. It stood several feet away, looking down at him, arms crossed.

Friendly, or hostile?

"Where am I? What is the name of this system?" asked Janus weakly.

"There is no need for pretence, _virus_," the blue program seethed. "We both know what you really are, and we will not be fooled again." She withdrew her disc and activated it. Janus tried to edge away but his limbs still felt like lead. "You have brought with you much destruction in the past," she continued, her voice laced with venom. "Our friends – murdered. Our Creator forced into hiding – then murdered. Our peace and prosperity – murdered!"

"Then why – " Janus struggled to speak coherently. "Why am I still alive – even if I have done none of those things that you accuse me of?"

The blue program swooped in on him and held her disc to his neck, the light blades spinning dangerously close. "I would love to be the one to derezz you, but you wouldn't be much use to us then, would you?"

"Freya," said a stern voice. "There's no need to be so hostile to our guest. He's innocent until proven guilty. Let him go."

Freya, the blue program, was still for awhile, then she replaced the disc on her back and got to her feet to face the male blue program behind her. "My apologies, Ajax. It's just that the last time we saw a program like that..." she gave a sidelong glance at him.

Ajax, a tall, well-built program with crew-cut blonde hair and a strong jaw, looked warily at Janus as well. "Don't worry, I've given him just enough energy to talk. He won't be able to charge his disc." Freya lowered her head. Ajax walked towards Janus, who didn't know whether he should feel grateful or scared. This wasn't a program to be messed with.

Ajax came to a halt right before Janus. "Who and what are you?" he asked. His voice was kindly.

"My name is Janus. I am a reconnaissance program," he answered as steadily as he could.

"And you're yellow," said Ajax amusedly. "We haven't seen a yellow program on the Grid in many datacycles." He paused. "Not since the Purge, right, Freya?"

Freya drew a sharp breath that could be heard even behind her helmet. "Yes, Ajax."

"Where did you come from, Janus?"

"I – I – there was liquid," said Janus, trying his best to remember the very first sensation. "Raw data. A lot of it. Untameable."

"The Sea of Simulation?" said Freya.

"Perhaps. I don't know what it's called. In fact I don't even know the name of this system." He looked up at Ajax. "Can you tell me?"

"I won't tell you anything unless you tell me your directive."

Janus hesitated. Well, what harm could come of it, anyway? If he was to be derezzed for giving an answer that did not sit well with them, then it would be too bad. He had to try. He felt that he was close to his goal. The pull was so strong. "I was sent to find information on two things who shared the name 'Flynn'. Kevin and Sam Flynn, the latter the offspring of the former. If you can help me, my User will greatly appreciate it."

At that, Ajax's eyebrows rose and his circuitry paled somewhat. "You have a User?"

"Impossible," said Freya, stepping forward. "There has been no User on or monitoring the Grid ever since – " she stopped abruptly. Ajax fell silent and thoughtful.

"What's the matter, Ajax?" she asked after awhile.

"I'm afraid that this is quite out of our hands," he replied. His expression was grave as he looked at Freya, then at Janus. "We'll have to wait for Tron. He'll know what to do."

* * *

**A/N: Apologies in advance if the four-on-one battle was too long and wordy, I had no other way of presenting it. Plus, Janus's part finally gets nearly the same length as Tova's, hehe. Thanks for all the reviews for the previous chapters! I'm glad that my OCs have made impressions on you guys - I was afraid they were too weak to do so (that's probably why OCs are hard to work with).**

**Been playing the Tron: Evolution game and I'm so glad that it gives me a clearer idea of Tron City's layout. Easier to write! :P**

**As always, do REVIEW! :D**


	6. Escape

Disclaimer: Nope, I do not own anything off TRON, except for my OCs.. give them some credit! :P

**Chapter 6: Escape**

Tova was shuttled back to her cell. She went with the green sentries obediently not because she wanted to but because she was simply exhausted. All her energy had been channelled into powering her disc and quickening her reflexes. Her steps began to slow down and become unsteady, her head beginning to spin. She swayed in her step and almost stumbled over her own feet. Both sentries grabbed her arm roughly and forced her forward.

"WALK, program."

"Don't..." she replied drowsily, trying without success to shake her arm out of their grips. The wound on her cheek throbbed.

"Don't make this difficult, program. You'll regret it."

Tova could only nod in acquiescence.

They arrived at her cell. Without warning, a sentry plucked her disc out of her back casing. She instantly felt ten times lighter – and hollower. Then, like when she had first arrived, she was practically shoved into her cell. She stumbled and fell onto the metal plank, the icy cold surface set fire to the wound on her cheek. She whimpered in pain just as the door slammed shut. Now she was not only alone, but weak and helpless. Her low energy level was not helping her morale. The corners of her eyes began to prickle. She squeezed her eyes shut. The welcoming darkness enveloped her. Her system went idle and she fell asleep.

All of a sudden, slit in the door opened. Tova jerked awake. How long had she slept? A vial of liquid energy rolled into her cell. She forced herself off the bench and towards it. She was about to remove the lid when she noticed the colour of the liquid energy. Normal energy was colourless. Refined energy was azure blue.

This was refined energy, and, if she wasn't mistaken, one of Struthers's.

The slit did not close like it usually would after opening to deliver energy to the conscripts. Tova heard a yell, then the sound of glass shattering and pixels hitting the floor. Some bounced into Tova's cell; they were green pixels. She dropped to her knees and put her eyes to the slit. A pair of black boots laced with blue circuitry came to a stop in front of her door.

She yelped as the energy blades of a blue disc cut through the door just above her head and backed away, not knowing whether to be afraid or happy. The energy blades sliced out a sizeable rectangle. Tova got to her feet. The rectangle swung slowly inwards and landed onto the floor with a crash, bringing her face to face with her rescuer, a blue program. Its face was masked, but she could tell that it was a male program from the strong built of his body.

He held a blue disc in his right hand, presumably his. This he shifted to his left and retrieved another disc from his back. It was white. Tova inhaled sharply. Could it be...?

He threw it at her. She caught the disc but eyed him warily. How did she know that she could trust him? For all she knew, the disc could be corrupted. He nudged his head at her, urging her to load it. She hesitatingly fixed it onto her back. She gasped as her system began downloading and processing data that was familiar to her, and looked at him in wonder.

"How did you – "

He shook his head. "There's not much time. Follow me."

Tova downed the entire vial of liquid energy, threw it carelessly away to one side and ran after him, feeling more alive than she had ever did before. She was going to make it out of there – she was going to be free!

They dashed along the hallway, which was eerily empty and quiet, but they knew that this was only the calm before the storm. The hallway opened up into a circular concourse. A path lit with white circuitry wound upwards around the concourse for five floors. In the middle of the concourse was an elevator with a circular shaft. This was the same elevator that had brought Tova to the Armoury. The elevator arrived uneventfully and the blue program instructed it to bring them downstairs.

As the elevator moved silently downwards, the blue program handed her a lightcycle baton. Tova thanked him gratefully, but he did not reply – instead, he merely activated his disc and held it by his side. She followed suit.

The elevator door came to a halt. The doors had only opened a crack when a flash of red caused the blue program threw himself onto Tova and out of the way, narrowly preventing both their faces from being cut open by the red disc that came flying menacingly into the elevator at them. The disc hit the elevator wall with full force and remained stuck to it, still whirring loudly.

Tova reached up to grab it just as the blue program scrambled to his feet and the elevator doors fully opened. No less than thirty sentries, perhaps more, were waiting for them, each with their discs raised. Behind them were stationary Recognizers. Tova recognised this place as the docking hangar for the Recognizers. She held up the red disc that she had captured and her own activated disc while the blue program split his disc into two, one white, one orange. He grasped them in a cautionary stance, as if daring any of the sentries to come forth and attack them.

"Run for it," said the blue program to her. "If I fall behind, don't wait for me." He paused. "Go!"

"But – "

"GO!" With a mighty roar he launched both discs in extremely curved trajectories and gave her a push. Tova ran, hesitatingly at first, not wanting to leave her rescuer behind, then with all her might as she saw that the blue program was running as well. Dangerously swift red discs came whizzing in her direction. She dodged many, deflected some and could even send precious few flying back to their promptly-derezzed owners.

But that was nothing compared to the blue program. He fought like a skilled warrior. Not once did any of his discs miss a sentry, if not shredding them on the spot to a heap of helpless pixels then severing a limb or two. He did not avoid discs, he merely moved out of their way, with graceful and sometimes physics-defying leaps and somersaults. Tova was sure that if there ever was such a thing as the mightiest warrior on the Grid, it would be him.

Now that the sentries were scattered and no longer a wall of pixels in their way, the blue program yelled at her, "Now!" Still running, he replaced his discs onto his back, whipped out his baton. His lightcycle materialised and he sped away. Tova activated her lightcycle as well and went after him.

Recognizers towered above their heads as they rode side by side through their gigantic legs. The sounds of more lightcycles materialising behind them and a quick glance behind showed that the red programs were now pursuing them on their own lightcycles as well.

"Hey!" she yelled through her helmet at the blue program. He looked at her. "You go left, I go right. We take them out together!" She activated her light ribbon. He nodded approvingly and activated his. They split paths.

Tova manoeuvred her lightcycle in and out of the legs of the Recognizers, creating a maze of white light ribbon for her pursuers to navigate through. Once or twice she heard the dastardly sound of a lightcycle crashing into the light ribbon followed by the tinkling of a multitude of tiny pixels onto the metallic ground. But many others survived. Five or six red riders managed to catch up and one actually rode alongside her. She flung her disc at the red program. It derezzed before it could reach for the disc on his back. The other red riders seemed to have been suddenly inspired by her move and activated their own discs as well. Three programs simultaneously threw the discs at her. Tova yelped and banked hard to the right, causing their discs to bounce off her light ribbon. Recovering her balance, she turned back to her original course. She could see the exit now, a gaping mass of dark grey in the distance.

Just then the blue program leapt from out of nowhere with his lightcycle and landed noisily on the ground, right in front of the red program who was riding close to Tova's left. The red program became trapped as the blue program and Tova sidled their lightcycles close to each other. Eventually the red program's wheel caught against the light ribbon and the lightcycle launched suddenly up into the air, doing several backflips before crashing onto two other lightcycle riders. All three blew up in an expulsion of red pixels.

The exit was drawing close but to Tova's horror, she spied a gigantic metal shutter descending from above the gateway. Just then more red lightcycles appeared behind them. This time they seemed to have formed a sort of strategy. Six red lightcycles both their sides veered inwards, hoping to cage them in with their red light ribbons. Tova gunned her throttle, her heart pounding wildly with fear. No, she was determined to escape. She would make it out alive, she would!

The exit was almost halfway shut, but it was so nigh at hand. Tova could almost feel the chilly, odourless wind whip against her face. The red riders let loose their discs at Tova and her rescuer. Tova tried to block them with her own disc, but mostly she could only lower her head or duck to dodge them. There was little space left to move around in the cage the red riders were building around them.

"Tova! Switch places!" yelled the blue program. She turned to look at him, shocked. How did he know her name? But she obeyed his command. She slowed down and let him swerve in front of her as she took his position. "Now floor it!" he yelled again. She did as was told. The metal shutter was coming down fast at both their heads. She braced herself for impact. The sky was so close...

The next thing she knew, the metal shutter had crashed shut with a resounding bang, and she was flying through the air. Her eyes widened. The road below her gleamed with welcoming blue circuitry – they would land directly on one of the wide open freeways of Tron City. She didn't think she could feel any happier, till the possibility of deresolution upon impact with the road hit her.

She crashed onto the road, her lightcycle disintegrating upon impact and sending her tumbling and skidding down the smooth surface, the pixels of the lightcycle trailing after her. She eventually rolled to a stop and was relieved and, most importantly, amazed to find herself still intact, pixels and all, though bumped and bruised all over. She groaned in pain as she tried to roll over onto her back. Even that simple movement hurt.

"Are you all right?" said the blue program as he limped towards her. His helmet unfolded back into his suit. All Tova could do was stare at him. He had a clean but dark and stern face. His mouth seemed to have been set in stone, ever-unsmiling.

"I'm fine," she croaked out. He helped her to her feet and looked crossly at the scattering of white pixels all over the floor. She noticed his expression, then the baton in his hand. Then it occurred to her that he must have deactivated the lightcycle the moment they had gone airborne. She almost slapped herself silly for not thinking of it. "I'm sorry I broke it. I'll replace it, don't you worry."

He arched an eyebrow. "And how do you plan to do that?"

"I'll save up enough energy to trade – "

"You mean steal, don't you? From Struthers, especially?" said the blue program, his tone unchanged though his words were sharp.

Now it was her turn to be unamused. "How do you know that? How do you even know my name?"

He looked up back at the hangar, ignoring her question. "Let's get out of here. They'll be dispatching Recognizers soon." He turned around, broke into a running leap and was soon astride his lightcycle. When he realised that she was still standing there, not knowing whether to follow him or sneak off, he turned his lightcycle back to where she stood.

"You're to come with me."

"Why should I? What is the meaning of all this? Why did you bust me out of there?"

"Because you believe in the Users," he said simply.

She eyed him warily. "My circuitry denotes that I'm a neutral. How did you know that?"

"Your gesture, your sign of your belief in them after the disc war in the Arena was not lost on Struthers," he said, smiling faintly.

She gasped in shock. "St-Struthers?"

A deep growling from within the hangar drew the attention of the blue program. "We shall discuss later." He tossed her another lightcycle baton. "You're lucky I brought extra."

"Can I at least know your name?"

"Tron," he replied simply, activating his helmet and speeding off.

* * *

**A/N: Weeeeellll sorry for the late update - have been pretty busy the past week. Apologies for lack of Janus's part... I know y'all wanna know what happens to him (me too actually...). But that would have to wait another chapter as I wanted that last line to be the last line for this chapter. :P Let me know if the action was bad or draggy or good even, hehe. I was kind of writing it in a rush. **

**Also, do not forget to... REVIEW! :D**


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